Steven Hill
[email protected]
Squamish Council made a few changes to the municipality's proposed budget Tuesday (March 7) in a Committee of the Whole meeting.
During the meeting, council removed a line item concerning a bus, which was intended to service the upcoming Quest University.Mayor Ian Sutherland said as the university was not due to be opened this year, a bus would not be needed at this point, and council voted to remove it from the budget.
Money intended for "civic beautification" in the amount of $50,000 was cut in half by council.
The original amount, earmarked for Squamish Protective Services, was cut when councilors suggested that Protective Services may not be the ideal initiators of a civic beautification program. The number was brought down to $25,000.
Council also went forward with a motion to add an additional $58,218 to the incremental column of the budget and another $20,000 to the capital budget for the Sea to Sky Community Services Society funding of the Squamish Youth Centre.
Staff informed council that the recent addition of a skate park has made the Squamish Youth Centre more popular.
A proposed Trails Coordinator position for the area was also given a monetary boost in the proposed budget.
Municipal staff told council that originally the plan had been for a "three-quarter" time trails coordinator with a $36,000 salary. According to the report, staff said the Squamish Trails Society and Squamish Off Road Cycling Association (SORCA) submitted a request to increase the position to full time, at a salary of $59,000, plus an additional operating budget of $11,000. Council added the extra $34,000 into the proposed budget.
Coun. Heintzman requested some money be put into the budget for consideration, which would address bear-proofing municipal garbage cans around town.
"There needs to be a plan in place to bear proof our garbage," she said,Heintzman said the municipal cans did not conform to the bear attractant bylaw, and should be bear proofed.Sutherland suggested adding $10,000 to the budget for that purpose.
"We are not spending that money," he reminded. "We are just adding it to the budget for future discussions when we actually hammer it all out."
Council is expected to hold budget discussions April 11 in council chambers.
